Sentech scale-back irritates internet users
Sentech has stopped selling its Classic range and will curtail the service to existing users as their contracts expire. Sentech says this will let it “improve the quality” of its alternative Flexi range that users are being encouraged to accept instead. But users are not convinced.
The Classic range offered different bandwidth options with no cap on how much data could be downloaded. Instead, it ran an “acceptable use policy”, relying on customers not to use too much bandwidth. But Sentech and its customers have a vastly different opinion of how much is too much.
As the bandwidth is shared among numerous users, those running bandwidth-intensive applications are degrading the speed and quality for others.
External communications manager Pranill Ramchander said Sentech was discontinuing the Classic range partly because a small percentage of users were hogging more than 50% of the bandwidth, so it was not financially self-sustaining.
Moving to the Flexi range would be more cost effective for 85% of people, as they would pay less for the amount of bandwidth used. They would also receive a faster service as Flexi was up to twice as fast as Classic, he said.
The news has provoked a fresh round of complaints against Sentech, which has a long history of upsetting customers with the cost, speed and reliability of its internet offerings.
Caustic comments abound on MyADSL, a website for high-speed internet users. “I just got shafted for using what I’m paying for,” said one subscriber.
Another said Sentech really meant: “We are too incompetent to live up to our promises so we have to get rid of people who use our bandwidth for what it is supposed to do. By getting rid of savvy internet users, we can make space for more ignorant people who think our Flexi packages are value for money, while not having to invest one cent in the upgrade of our infrastructure.”
The Classic packages cost from R649 to R1449 a month on a 24-month contract. The Flexi packages cost from R299 to R2099 a month, depending on the speed and amount of bandwidth users require.
Classic customers can switch to a Flexi package immediately. Those who insist on retaining their contract until it expires must adhere to a new cap of 10GB of data downloads a month on the standard package, 20GB on the Professional package and 40GB on the Premium package.
When Sentech first launched wireless internet access it was repeatedly slated on MyADSL for offering services that were slow, unreliable and too expensive. Customers also complained of patchy coverage and an unresponsive help desk.
Some users forced Sentech to withdraw advertisements that made its offerings sound more impressive than they were, by complaining to the Advertising Standards Authority. The authority agreed that the adverts were misleading, as the service did not deliver on its promise.
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